


Karma Got It Wrong

by missred



Category: All Time Low, Bandom
Genre: Gen, Shivering, Sickfic, Sneezing, Tour Bus, Zack basically feels like shit okay, prompt 4, sick!fic, sick!zack, teen for language only guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-02-19 01:03:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2368634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missred/pseuds/missred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zack is not sick. Zack does not deserve to be sick. So he can't be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Karma Got It Wrong

Zack was a fit kind of guy. He worked out, ate right (ish) (tour was hard okay, he totally deserved a few late night pizzas), and generally did all the sorts of things your mom told you should. So it was absolutely impossible when Zack went to bed watching _House of a Thousand Corpses_ with Rian and Jack, and woke up feeling like someone was trying to smother him. For a second, he actually did think Jack was on top of him, covering his face with a pillow, just for fun. But he wasn’t. The thing that was blocking all of Zack’s available air was fucking _snot_ , and _fuck him_ , he did not deserve this. Alex deserved this. He ate like a hormonal teenage girl on tour. Jack deserved this. He was totally hammered last night on stage. Rian...Rian maybe didn’t didn’t deserve this, but hell if Zack wouldn’t have traded with him for the next three days or so.

He lay in bed for another hour or so, listening to the sounds of the bus rolling and the snores of his bandmates. Zack really didn’t want to get up. He didn’t want to have to rustle around the sick drawer and try to find some Tylenol or Mucinex or whatever else would stop his head from pounding like this and make it so he could breathe a little again. When he finally does drag himself out of his bunk, it’s to the sound of Jack and Alex arguing in the lounge. He stumbles in and tries to collapse on the couch, but Jack wouldn’t move. His loss. Zack lays right on top of him and suppresses the urge to drag snot all over his pants. But he doesn’t need to. Alex pauses and Jack is eyeing him up, Zack can _feel_ it, even with his face pressed in between Jack’s thigh and the couch cushions.

“Dude, you are _sick_.” Alex asserted.

“I ambnot!” Zack shouted back.

It might have been more convincing if he hadn’t lost the ability to enunciate.

“You totally are. You look all..greyish, and gross, and sick.” Jack added.

“I habe you both.” Zack mumbled.

He pushed himself off Jack and lumbered over to the cabinet that would house cold medicine. Jesus, Zack hadn’t been sick in so long he didn’t even know if there was anything in there. It was usually Alex who got these nasty cold-things. All he found was bottle of Ibuprofen and those gross cherry cough drops Jack liked to suck on when he had a sore throat. Good enough. Zack dumped a couple into his hand and was about to throw them back when Jack leapt up.

“Woah! What are you doing Zackie-boy?”

“Medicading.” Zack growled. And shit, that hurt like sandpaper on his throat, but he _hated_ when Jack called him that.

“You can’t just take that shit without food in your stomach. It’ll burn holes or something.”

“Don’ care.” Zack shot back.

He was normally pretty easy going, but he felt worse than he had in years, and all he wanted was his head to stop hurting.

“Jack’s right.” Rian walked in from the back.

“Why are you downing pills without--Oh. You look wrecked, Zack.”

“Thanks.” Zack couldn’t quite manage sarcasm when he _felt_ wrecked. Still, wasn’t cool that everyone had to keep reminding him.   
“Here.” Alex, unsurprisingly, took charge. He had a pretty strong bossy streak.

“There’s cup o noodles in pantry, you can eat that now, and we’ll get you real medicine and soup and shit at the next rest stop.”

“Alex it’s nine in de mornding. I dobn’t wand cup o noodles.”

“You should’ve thought about that before you got sick.”

“I--”

“Nope. I’m gonna go call Flyzik and let him know we’re a man down for tonight.

“Alex I’m no--”

“Yeah,” Rian interrupted.

“You kind of are. You should sit down, Zack.”

And fuck all of them because Zack was _fine_ to play tonight, and if he had to prove it by standing for the next five hours he would. Until the AC kicked on and it was fucking freezing by the vent. Zack really wanted to go in the back and curl up under his blankets and maybe steal Alex’s too, but that wouldn’t prove his point very well. So he stood there, resolute, until he couldn’t hold it back anymore, and Zack was wracked by a massive shiver and chased it with a snot-filled sneeze.

“Oh my _God_.” Jack exclaimed.

Zack was totally ready to defend himself, it was _allergies_ , dammit, when Jack finished

“Get your sorry ass on this couch before you pass out right there and I have to get Rian to carry you to your bunk like a girl.”

And he scooted over, leaving a Zack-sized spot right between him and Rian, who had taken Alex’s spot on the couch.

Zack was too tired, and that spot looked to inviting.

“Rian could not lift me.” He grumbled at he settled between them.

“Wanna bet?” Rian grinned and darted up, picking Zack up like he weighed as much as Alex, and tossing him over his shoulder.

“You have gob to be kidding be.” Zack said, words muffled by Rian’s shoulder.

Jack cheered and Rian ignored him, carrying him back to the bunks and dumping him on his bed. Which was fine. Zack was fine with going to sleep and pretending that never happened. But then Rian started to roll him, tightly entangling him in blankets, before picking him up again and setting him down next to Jack, victorious.

“you’re all terrible beoble.” Zach glared at two pair of them, and added Alex to his list when he walked in, laughing.

“You know you love us, Zackie.”

Jack grabbed Zack and snuggled close in a very un-manly way, and Zack was totally gonna make up for that by punching him in the gut or something...later. Right now he was warm, and tired, and all his friends were around him. Zack closed his eyes and let the rolling of the bus and the voices of his bandmates lull  him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> For an anon who wanted any kind of sickfic involving Zack or Rian, since they are woefully unrepresented in the sickfic tag. I agree! Hope you like this one.


End file.
